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Siddle takes five against Sri Lanka

Greg Buckle

Australia's shocking run of injuries to pace bowlers continued on Sunday as Ben Hilfenhaus broke down with a side strain on day three of the first Test against Sri Lanka.

The swing specialist is not only extremely unlikely to be able to bowl in Sri Lanka's second innings but he's almost certain to miss the second Test in Melbourne on Boxing Day, joining other quicks such as James Pattinson (side strain), Patrick Cummins (back) and Ryan Harris (shoulder) on the sidelines.

Australia will resume on Monday's fourth day of play on 0-27 in their second innings.

The home side hold an overall lead of 141 runs and captain Michael Clarke will be strongly considering a declaration midway through day four to set the tourists a target they feel they can chase down on a docile Hobart pitch.

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And with superstars like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and first-innings century-maker Tillakaratne Dilshan in their line-up, the Sri Lankans will be confident of a good performance in their second innings against an Australian pace attack which is a bowler short.

Australia team physio Alex Kountouris said the side-strain injury to Hilfenhaus did not appear to be as severe as the one which has kept Pattinson out of action since last month's Adelaide Test against South Africa.

While Pattinson is due to resume bowling in the next few days, Kountouris says he's unlikely to play in the Melbourne or Sydney Tests over Christmas/New Year.

Hilfenhaus' condition will be assessed on Monday morning and he's also in doubt for the rest of the three-match series against Sri Lanka.

"It is looking doubtful he will be able to bowl in the rest of the game," Kountouris said.

"You'd think there's going to be considerable doubt (for Melbourne)."

Cricket Australia has tried various solutions to keep players such as Hilfenhaus and fellow quick Mitchell Starc ready for the Test summer despite a disjointed preparation that included the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa in October.

"I wish it was a simple answer. There's not one reason why guys are breaking down," Kountouris said.

"The landscape's changed the way the schedule is and stuff like that. But we've got to get better at managing that."

Paceman Peter Siddle gave an inspirational performance to claim 5-54 in Sri Lanka's first innings of 336 in reply to Australia's 5-450 declared.

Dilshan scored 147 and shared a record fifth-wicket stand of 161 with Angelo Mathews (75).

Siddle finally broke through in the sixth over with the second new ball when Mathews was out lbw at 5-248 shortly before tea and Mitchell Starc bowled Dilshan at 6-289.

The aggressive Dilshan hit 21 fours in his seven-hour knock, posting his 15th Test hundred and second against Australia.